


Go Be A Hero

by natashasbanner



Series: Bruce/Nat Missing Scenes [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, F/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-01 21:43:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14529822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natashasbanner/pseuds/natashasbanner
Summary: Bruce is ready to join the fight, but Natasha is worried that they don't have the Hulk. Bruce assures her that he can do it, with or without the Big Guy.*Infinity War Spoilers*





	Go Be A Hero

**Author's Note:**

> This moment is something I've had in mind since leaving the theater. They had the opportunity to mirror the scene in Age of Ultron and they wasted it. And I really would have liked to see Bruce's big hero moment, but no. So I did it myself, please enjoy :D

The room was a flurry of movement as everyone rushed around to follow their king’s orders. Natasha turned her back to the window, taking a moment to mentally prepare for the battle that waited for them outside the palace. Shuri had already gone to work on Vision and Wanda stood loyally by his side. Natasha hoped for their sake that the princess had enough time to get the stone out of his head. However unconventional, they cared for one another unconditionally, a bright spot when the rest of the world seemed so dark. 

She looked away from them when they started whispering quietly to each other, feeling like she was intruding on a private moment. Her gaze landed on Bruce, drawn unconsciously to him like her brain had to double check that he was still there, not entirely convinced that he wouldn’t disappear again if he wasn’t in her line of sight for too long. It was distracting, but not unwelcome. 

He’d made his way to stand next to Steve at the floor to ceiling window both of them watching the ships that crashed down outside the city’s protective dome. Their body language couldn’t have been more different. Steve with his ramrod posture and tensed muscles, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice. If she listened close enough, Natasha thought she might be able to hear the wheels turning in his head, a plan of action forming for the multitude of possible outcomes for the coming battle. 

And then there was Bruce, nearly a whole head shorter but ten times the brute force carefully concealed within. His shoulders were slumped forward, curled in on himself and even though she couldn’t see them she imagined his hands were nervously moving together in front of him. 

Natasha crossed her arms in front of her and walked over to stand beside Bruce. She glanced at them from the corner of her eye and caught the identical expressions they wore. The determination in the set of their jaws and piercing gazes spurred Natasha’s own drive to defend this place with her last breath. It started to sink in that this was it, their final stand. 

“Call it, Cap,” she said, a phrase so familiar but it felt so final here. 

Steve was silent for a long moment before he finally spoke. 

“This is it,” he said. “We hold our ground as long as we can,” he paused, “and if we go down, we’re go down swinging. All that matters is the stone getting destroyed.” 

Natasha nodded shortly and saw Bruce’s fist clench beside her, ready to fight. 

“Romanoff and I will head out to the barrier,” Steve went on, turning to face her and Bruce. “Banner, unless the Hulk is going to make an appearance sometime soon, you should stay here, see if you can help out at all.” 

Bruce’s chuckle was unexpected and jarring in the face of the seriousness of it all and Natasha stared at him with furrowed brows. 

“You and I both know there’s nothing for me to do up here, Cap.” he said, nodding to Shuri who was already setting up the equipment to extract the stone. “You guys are going to need all the help you can get and I brought backup.” 

He pulled a pair of bracelets from his jacket pocket that looked a lot like the ones Tony used to wear for his suits. Bruce looked entirely too smug at his clever resourcefulness. Even Steve looked surprised. 

“You stole a suit?” Steve questioned and Natasha stared between the two. 

“Is it really stealing if I helped build it?” Bruce asked stuffing the bracelets back into his pockets. 

“You brought Veronica.” Natasha said knowingly. Her old hatred of that suit crept back up on her all of a sudden, too quick for her to try and cover it up. 

“Like I said,” Bruce turned to look at her. “You’re going to need all the help you can get.” His eyes crinkled around the edges and he ducked his head a little, an apology. 

“Then suit up,” Steve said, stepping around them to follow after one of the king’s guards who’d reentered the room. 

Bruce nodded and looked back at Natasha. 

“I’m sorry,” he said. 

“You heard Steve.” She ignored his apology and turned to follow Steve’s path out of the lab. “Let’s go.” 

It was cold, but she needed to remain focus even when every part of her wanted to turn around and make Bruce stay in lab, far away from those things just outside the barrier. Hulk was a force of nature, but Bruce was just too human, too breakable, for the front lines. There was no guarantee that Hulk would decide to show up if Bruce wasn’t strong enough to take on what was out out there waiting for them. 

Without looking back she hurried through the deserted halls of the palace and only stopped when they reached the first floor again, the main doors only a few yards away. Bruce’s footsteps behind her slowed and only stopped when he realized she wasn’t going to keep going. 

“Natasha?” he questioned, his voice echoing in the vast empty space. 

She sighed and turned around, smiling softly at him. 

“You don’t have to do this,” she told him quietly. 

“And you do?” he asked, stepping closer, his eyebrows raised. 

She dropped her eyes and clenched her fist. This conversation felt like deja vu, but ironically flipped because that’s how things went for her, for the both of them. 

“Yes,” Natasha answered, firm. 

Bruce straightened up and met her gaze head on, unwavering. “So do I.” 

“We need the Hulk,” she argued, stepping closer, just at the edge of his personal space. 

“You’ve got me.” He closed the distance so that they were toe to toe, forcing her to tilt her head up slightly look him in the eye. 

“Hulk’s run scared and he’s not coming back anytime soon. Veronica is the only thing on this planet that has taken him on and won, it’s the best option,” he said and reached out to take one of her hand. He held onto her fingers loosely. “How many times did you and Tony and Steve try to convince me that I was part of the team, not just the Hulk?”

It sounded rhetorical, but she answered any way. “Too many to count.” 

“We’re about to face the biggest threat to the planet since New York and I’m going to be right there with you all when it comes. This is what we do, defend the earth or go down trying. We’re Avengers and the job’s not finished.”

Natasha studied his face and saw that his decision was made, and nothing she said or did was going to sway that. He wanted, needed to join the fight, who was she to try and stop him. 

She sighed and gripped his hand tightly. 

“Do you know how to work the suit?” she asked. 

“How hard could it be?” he said with a smirk and careless shrug. 

He was joking at the end of the world, she shook her head. 

“Okay,” she conceded, bringing her free hand up to rest on his cheek. 

His face was warm against her hand, grounding her. She wanted to remember this moment, drink it in and use it to push her forward, a reminder of what was waiting on the other side. Her worry hadn’t subsided even a fraction, but his confidence won her over. There was just one thing she wanted to do first. 

Natasha ran her thumb along his cheekbone and leaned in until their foreheads were pressed together, noses touching. Bruce sucked in a breath and let it out in slow short bursts. 

“This feels familiar,” she whispered, closing her eyes. 

“You’re not going to push me off a cliff this time, are you?” He asked, his breath hot against her lips. 

“Not this time,” she promised. 

“I adore you,” he repeated her words from a lifetime ago and it warmed the parts of her that’d long since gone cold. 

Natasha pulled away, to see his whole face again. His eyes fluttered open and she smiled softly. 

“Don’t die, okay.” 

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” 

He smiled and Natasha surged forward, closing the distance between them once and for all. His lips were soft against hers if slightly chapped, full like she remembered. He pressed back, parted. She broke the kiss too soon and stepped back. 

“Go be a hero,” she told him, nodding toward the main doors. 

Bruce smiled and gestured for her to go first. “After you.” 

Natasha turned on her heel and straightened her posture, the fate of the universe awaited. And she had a damned good reason to come out on the other side. 


End file.
